Othawa Pride

[RookiePundit]

If they are saved by an intervention it would be done for economic and PR reasons, no matter how veiled it would be. The only case where intervention would not have an domino effect, at least from lion dynamics, actually also a case of pride extinction would be removing the last Sparta pride member, the lone sub-adult/cub female, who was a sitting duck since suddenly becoming orphan due to injury related demise of her mother. It was clear she is going to die/disappear and it culd be a rather slow process unless hyenas or something else kills her quickly. So she was already unimpactful on lion dynamics for good and removing her to a sanctuary or conservation captive breeding programme (ideally out of the country) would just mean one less cadavre of resources for the system nad perhaps survival of few small vertebrates or invertebrates that she could manage to catch.

This is a different situation as intervention could lead to remaining Othawas having a future (something that was not reasonably possible for Sparta youngster) and that future would be at the expense of someone else, even if indirectly by not vacanting space and posssibilities any newcomers could thrive due to later. If it would be a rarer animal, facing extinction much more likely, like say wild dogs, then it is another story, although any help to such species is usually limited by the lack of suitable habitat and often ongoing habitat loss. Extinction of a pride is natural and what is lost is just story continuation, legacy and subsequent money from the attention such known individuals bring. When you manage a habitat, ecosystem, you have moral obligation not to play favourites and certainly omit actions that could have, perhaps unforeseen impact, for selfish reasons. That's what Masai Mara fails at. Reply